No signs of a deal, day to go

OAKLAND -- Negotiators from the two largest unions representing BART employees continued met with BART management Saturday evening, but there are no indications of progress toward averting a Monday strike that could leave tens of thousands of commuters in paralyzing gridlock.

Talks began around 10 a.m. and, with the exception of a lunch break, continued into the evening. Pizzas were seen being delivered around 6 p.m. to the Caltrans Building where the talks are occurring.

Antoinette Bryant, ATU Local 1555 leader, said just before 7 p.m. that talks were continuing but there was no sign of an imminent breakthrough. "We're working on it," she said.

One woman walking in front of the building at 111 Grand Ave. shouted Saturday afternoon, "Shut down BART for good."

"I think it will be a long day," Leah Berlanga, negotiator and spokeswoman for SEIU Local 1021, said Saturday morning. "I think we'll be there until the evening."

Although the situation was tense as the strike deadline loomed, there was also some levity Saturday. Lead BART negotiator Tom Hock, outside for an afternoon beverage break, took a reporter's microphone and pretended to interview the media.

On Thursday, BART unions gave 72 hours notice of a strike, which would begin Monday morning. The strike would be a resumption of a work stoppage that lasted for four and a half days during the week of July 1 before both sides agreed to a 30-day cooling-off period. The cooling-off period expires at 11:59 p.m. on Sunday.

Also Friday, state Assemblyman Mark DeSaulnier, D-Concord, released a statement urging the transit agency and its workers to reach a settlement.

"The top priority for BART and its labor unions must be to continue to engage in serious negotiations and avert a possible strike," DeSaulnier said. "I know that it is no easy task to find a solution that is fair to workers, is mindful of budgetary constraints, and ensures BART delivers top-notch safety for both riders and workers. BART is a major component of the Bay Area economy, and another prolonged strike could be devastating for the commuters who rely upon BART every day."

After the four-year contract between BART and its two largest labor unions expired at the end of June, the agency's 2,300 blue-collar union workers went on strike, shutting down the nation's fifth-largest rail line for 4? days. A 30-day agreement to get the trains running expires at 11:59 p.m. on Sunday.

In the month since the first strike ended, neither side has reported significant progress on the three main issues that continue to divide them: pay, medical benefits and pensions. That led unions on Thursday to file an official 72-hour notice to strike Monday morning if no progress is made before then.

BART union workers have not received a raise in four years. They make an average of $76,500 in gross pay annually -- the best among California transit agencies -- contribute nothing toward their pensions and $92 monthly for health care.

The most recent proposals released publicly earlier in the week from BART included a four-year raise totaling 8 percent, while unions countered with a three-year pay increase of more than 20 percent. They were several percentage points apart, as well, on raising contributions to pensions and medical benefits.

If a strike happens, officials predict a 10 percent increase in traffic over the last strike, which happened during a holiday week and still produced gridlocked roads and packed buses, trains and ferries.

Transit agencies around the Bay Area would slightly beef up service and BART would run a limited bus service from the East Bay into San Francisco. Casual carpool lots would be expanded, the carpool lanes on Interstate 80 would be enforced all day and bridge toll booths would be fully staffed.